AUGUSTA, Maine — The Judiciary Committee heard hours of testimony in Augusta from people in favor and opposed to two new gun legislation proposals.
One bill, LD 2086, would focus on removing forfeited or abandoned firearms from circulation. It's meant to prevent gun trafficking and to keep firearms from being resold and used for crime.
Bill sponsor Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cumberland, said the amendment would also update the state's definition of "machine gun." The bill would give Maine law enforcement jurisdiction to prevent harm from firearms with devices that function like machine guns.
"Think of your children. Think of people in churches and synagogues and bowling alleys and schools like Sandy Hook. Let's please put an end to this," former State Sen. Everett Brownie Carson said.
While this bill is part of a suite of gun reform legislation proposed by Democratic leadership in response to October's mass shooting in Lewiston, those in opposition said the tragedy was not due to a lack of state gun laws.
"The laws that we already have in the books could have stopped what happened in Lewiston. They did not because people were not using them," Andee Reardon, Maine's Director of Women for Gun Rights, said. "We don't need more laws. We actually need people to enforce the laws that we already have."
A second bill, LD 2119, would support suicide prevention by allowing people to voluntarily waive their rights to firearms.
"People who are prone to suicidal thoughts and behaviors need this bill which allows us to protect ourselves from our unwell selves. We need this policy which gives us the agency to make preemptive decisions about our own health," bill sponsor Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, said.
The bill would allow people to voluntarily limit their own access to guns by putting themselves on a confidential, federal "do-not-sell" list to prevent them from making an impulsive firearm purchase when struggling with a mental health crisis.
The amendment would also allow people to hand over their firearms to a trusted source, like a firearms dealer, for safekeeping if a person doesn't want guns in their house.
Those against this bill argue while it may help people in danger of a mental health crisis, it could also prevent some gun owners from seeking mental health help in fear they'll never get their guns back.
“There is no clear path for restoration of rights," Laura Whitcomb, the president of Gun Owners of Maine, said.
Reardon said more and more people are wanting to protect themselves by owning firearms since the mass shooting in Lewiston.
"While everybody’s trying to find answers to Lewiston, I really want to point out we don’t have a gun problem in our state. We do have a mental health issue," Reardon said.
She said she doesn't feel this amendment, though, will encourage gun owners to seek mental health treatment.
Since Oct. 25, the deadliest day in Maine's history, when 18 people died from gun violence, some Mainers are hoping the Legislature will enact meaningful gun reform to prevent the chances of another mass shooting from ever happening again.
"You have to find a way to be better. Someone has to take those steps because right now there’s no way to make people responsible for their firearms," Arthur Bernard said.
Bernard's son, Arthur Strout, died that night while playing pool at Schemengees Bar and Grille.